Jim Tressel was not a great football coach, but a good football coach with great resources. Your dad could roll out of bed on game day and get seven wins a year coaching the Buckeyes. The resources of the crown jewel of Ohio State’s athletic program are that rich and that vast, and Tressel did as much with those resources as anyone. During his ten years in Columbus, Tressel won a national title, seven Big Ten titles, and beat Michigan every year, save one. That alone will keep the memories of the sweater vest parading the sidelines in a positive hue for generations to come, despite his ominous resignation yesterday. But don’t expect to see The Senator take up another term elsewhere; he won’t be coming back. Ever.

The Ohio State football program was already in trouble, and not just from a compliance standpoint. The shine from those silver helmets has dimmed significantly since Tressel’s troops won the national title in 2002. Ohio State single-handedly elevated the Southeastern Conference to elite status after back-to-back BCS blowouts in 2005 and 2006, including a horribly-managed game against Florida where Tressel called for a fake punt from his own 20 in the first half. The coach needed his so-called “Tat Five” to avoid a similar fate against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl last January. Despite beating up on Michigan and the Big Ten for the last six years, the Buckeyes’ national reputation has somehow slipped, and their struggles against southern schools has been a big reason for that. “Ohio State” has lost some of its pop, both in the media and on the recruiting trail.

But the weapon that Jim Tressel did have in the living rooms of recruits across America was his reputation. Facing the families of 18-year-old kids who were fielding offers to play in better weather against better competition with a style of play that wouldn’t put its fans to sleep, the second-generation coach pitched himself as a mentor and shaper of young minds. I can develop your son not just as a football player, but as a person. That’s a tough sell even without the NCAA and SI breathing down the back of one’s sweater vest. With them, it’s an impossible one.

Tressel’s reputation suffered on other levels well before this. If his rep as a cerebral game-day coach could have been ceremonially buried in that Superdome turf five months ago, it should have been. Tressel’s offensive play-calling–a duty he has maintained since coming to Columbus in 2001–went from being “shrewd” and “conservative” to outright bland in a way that made the U.S. Postal Service seem edgy and innovative.

And dude didn’t really know what to do with talent when he actually found it. To say that the auteur of Tresselball has mercilessly wasted the talents of Terrelle Pryor would be an understatement. Even during his fourth year in Columbus, Pryor still looked undeveloped, unprepared, and uncertain. Only once did Tressel’s prized recruit from Pennsylvania throw more than 30 passes last fall, and Pryor surely had to wonder why he didn’t commit to one of the other 87 schools that put the ball in the air more than Ohio State did. Anyone that had watched Ohio State last fall had to laugh when analysts would ask about the quarterback’s chances of declaring for the draft last winter, realizing that getting kicked around the NFL could certainly wait another year.

Despite his flaws as a game-caller and recruiter, Tressel got a lot of credit for being “senatorial” in the heat of the college football season. His calm, collected demeanor which had won him so much praise on the sideline seemed to elicit as much scorn in this past offseason in the face of well-documented allegations against his program. Tressel positioned himself behind his AD, a new SID, and even the president of his school, seeming sure he could wait out the media, the NCAA, and an incoming class of recruits who had to wonder what happened to the football coach I feel in love with.

Those last two months of soft shoe define the Tressel Era in Columbus as well as his nine wins against Michigan or his national title, and they should. They highlight the same quiet arrogance that Tressel exuded during the ten years where he was allegedly turning football players into people. Now exposed as Just Another Coach, a fraud and a liar, Tressel has nothing left to sell. And just as scarlet and gray sweater vests across Ohio head for the clearance racks, Tressel heads for the border of Buckeye Nation as the program he once embodied waits for the NCAA’s hammer to fall. Leaving in scandal while those closest to him await their own fates? That’s totally something a senator would do.

Join The Discussion

I knew we would see Punte here when I heard about Tressel. Maybe Youngstown State will take him back.

05.31.11 at 11:55 am

Don King

I hope everyone took time out to thank the servicemen and servicewomen who defend our freedoms and way of life yesterday. Only in America(!) can people speak so freely and openly to express their views and opinions, especially when they are unpopular.

That being said, I’d love for anyone to defend this ignorant sack now.

05.31.11 at 11:58 am

Diagon

Great write-up, love these long opinion articles. Thanks.

05.31.11 at 12:12 pm

PrettyRichard

Punte, please come back. I always figured anyone could write this blog. Turns out that’s not the case, as Brandon continues to prove. Please come back!

05.31.11 at 12:30 pm

Brandon

@PrettyRichard – what the hell did i do

05.31.11 at 12:22 pm

Russ

I think you are severely overestimating the throwing arm of TP. As far as wasting his talents,the entire purpose of him choosing OSU over schools like WV was because he wanted to evolve into a pro quarterback and not run entirely out of an option offense.

05.31.11 at 12:40 pm

PrettyRichard

Brandon, I think you try too hard to be funny. Don’t get me wrong, I come to the site to be entertained. But with you, everything seems forced. I don’t know, I’ll keep coming back to the site, but it doesn’t feel the same. No offense – to each his own.

05.31.11 at 12:54 pm

Joshua

@Brandon

I’ll admit, your writing definitely rubs in the wrong direction, much like Punte’s did at the beginning of his tenure. The site, as established by Ufford, has a definite house style that you’ll asymptotically approach as time goes by. I never thought that I would get used to Punte after Ufford left, but he found his legs after a few long months and now you see comments like PettyRichard’s.

I wish I had some more substantive feedback than that, but it really seems to be a style issue – the types and delivery of jokes, cadence, and – I suppose – subject matter (I know it’s probably a draw, but the WWE stuff makes me . I wouldn’t look for accurate feedback from comments like Petty’s, but if you think of them like an inflammatory version of “Hotter/Colder”, you’ll probably end up drifting in the direction that the audience “demands”.

05.31.11 at 2:01 pm

JOSH Z

On the record, I love what Brandon is doing with the site. He has brought his own style, and I think that people will warm up to it, should they continue to give it a chance.

Remember, angry readers are still readers!

05.31.11 at 1:15 pm

parris island vacations

MMP, Sums up the opinions of tOSU alums in my family.

Nice work.

05.31.11 at 1:42 pm

FavreFAIL

Nice writeup Punte,

Another thing to consider is that Tressel will likely face sanctions himself from the NCAA, which would complicate any future hire with another program. He’s done, at least at the major D1A level.

05.31.11 at 11:08 pm

Home Inspector Training

That’s a sad story to lose a long time coach but that’s life, you can’t help the changes every time. The thing they must do is to move on and find another better coach. And focus to the team’s goal.

06.01.11 at 10:13 am

FSJ

This was good. I liked this. Thanks PUNTE.

06.01.11 at 6:49 pm

CarlJr

It’s really sad that this guy thinks so shallow to believe that this OSU mess doesn’t go clear to the top! It is the almight dollar that allows Athletic Directors and yes, even college presidents to look the other way. Tressel was a good coach that is now a “well paid” fall guy! I hope the investigation doesn’t stop now but cleans house!

06.02.11 at 9:26 am

JD126

Maybe Pryor didn’t develop as a quarterback because he has never taken the time to work on that craft…or work on anything for that matter. Ask anyone that assists inside the program (locker room attendants, stadium assistants, etc) and they’ll all tell you he’s a thug with a very false sense of entitlement.

08.16.11 at 3:56 pm

MDR24

This was one of the mot terrible articles I have ever read. I have just wasted 5 minutes of my life that I will never get back. Jim won 5 National Championships with Youngstown State, do your research and see where the program was before and now after him.